R Ashwin Was Kept Away from Cricket To Avoid Being Banned by ICC – Saeed Ajmal
Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has claimed R Ashwin was kept away from international cricket intentionally for six months to avoid a ban from ICC.
Indian off-spinner R Ashwin is one of the best spinners in the world, and is no less in stature than the previous greats of the game. Recently he was in headlines after being targeted by former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar.
The cricketer-turned-commentator had said that Ravichandran Ashwin isn’t ‘an all-time great player’ while the topic is still burning, another one, this time, from former Pakistan off-spinner Saeed Ajmal has come.
Ajmal, who was banned multiple time by the ICC due to his illegal bowling action claimed that Ashwin was deliberately kept away from the game for sometime, so that he is not banned by the International Cricket Council.
Seeed Ajmal had a terrible history in Cricket as he was always getting called out by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for his action being illegal during his time with the Pakistan team from 2008 to 2015. R Ashwin made his international debut in 2010, one year later to Saeed Ajmal, and has been a constant member of the Indian team.
“You changed all these rules and regulations without asking anyone. I was playing cricket for the last eight years. All those rules were for me. That’s it. During that period, Ashwin was out from cricket for six months. Why is that? So you can work on him and your bowler doesn’t get banned. They don’t care if a Pakistan bowler gets banned. They only care about money,” Saeed Ajmal was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Ravichandran Ashwin is one of the best spinners in the world at present and is a vital cog in India’s bowling attack in Tests. He has over 600 wickets to his name across formats and is presently India’s fourth-highest wicket-taker in Tests with 409 scalps to his name 78 Tests. He is just nine wickets away of overtaking Harbhajan Singh to move to the third spot on the list of highest Test wicket-takers for India.
The off-spinner will be next seen in action in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and New Zealand at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. The final will followed by a five-match Test series between India and England.
